


A Way Forward

by LaurelCrowned



Category: Valdemar Series - Mercedes Lackey
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:00:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25603975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaurelCrowned/pseuds/LaurelCrowned
Summary: Idara never thought she would be spending her wedding feast drinking alone in her room. But it wasn’therwedding anymore, was it?
Comments: 10
Kudos: 20





	A Way Forward

**Author's Note:**

> An extremely self-indulgent AU one-shot for one of my original RP characters from an entirely different universe. I’m not even remotely sorry.

Her pillow was wet with tears and the tea tray on her bedside table had long gone cold. The wine bottle had rolled away somewhere, spilling drops of her father's best vintage on her ivory-colored bedspread. Idara's fists clenched in the embroidered pillowcases. Not her work - no, her handiwork was still packed away in her bridal chest, ready to be transported to her new home after the wedding. The wedding that had happened yesterday, a hurried ceremony to placate genteel sensibilities. 

It hadn't mattered one way or the other; Ephranos was lost to her. And her sister, that - that - _how could she? How could either of them?_

Idara closed her red eyes tighter as more tears spilled out. She'd thought she had been done with the tears, her every muscle tired and strained from sobbing, but the waves of misery didn't seem to end. 

Her fiancé had promised her so many, many things. A splendid sewing room where she could work on her embroidery, a dozen ladies-in-waiting to help her run the household. A darling little white-furred kitten – he knew how she loved cats! 

But most of all, she had wanted him. Her handsome, clever, strong, broad-shouldered Ephranos. Heir to the adjacent landholding to her father's. Their grape-growing lands were among the best in all of Valdemar, their finest whites and reds drunk in the very palace itself. 

It would have been an incredible joining, and for their families, it still would be. She could hear the Bard downstairs, singing and plucking away on a harp for the after-dinner dancing. The party was set to go on for a full week. The grand mansion's guest rooms were all packed full. Her mother had argued that they couldn't very well send them all away when they had been expecting days of feasting and entertainment. And Idara knew that, had been trained from childhood to understand such niceties and pleasantries. She had learned the steps of the delicate dance of the nobles with utter precision and care. 

And in the end, none of it had mattered. It hadn’t been enough. What use was she now? Who would want her? Even her beloved vineyards with their endless sun-drenched rows were lost to her, promised now to her sister. 

The jaunty music was too much. She sat up sniffling and crawled her way into her bathing room, where she washed her face with the cool water in the basin. She looked up into the small pane of mirrored glass. Her long hair was a dreadful mess, and her face puffy and eyes bloodshot. She looked ghastly. But who cared? There was no one to see her now. 

If only that music would stop! 

Suddenly it did, only to be replaced by screams of terror and a great snarling, splintering noise. Idara froze, her washcloth clenched white-knuckled in her hand.

She could see it. She didn't know how, but she could see it happen in the mirror.

_A change-beast leaped through the doors into the party. Its three tails lashed as it howled and pounced atop the long trestle table of food, scattering it everywhere. Her mother at the high table screamed first, her little sister fainted into Ephranos' arms. Her father stood -_

_Her father, his face pale as death, a thick splinter of wood protruding from his chest. Red that wasn't wine rapidly stained his fine coat. He fell, and though she tried to scream, her voice wouldn’t come._

_The beast leaped from the table into the dancers, and Idara didn't want to see it, but she couldn't stop seeing it. The Bard had gone for a short sword, charging into the fray, but the change-beast's maw fell on him. Claws ripped and shredded the frilly dress of one of her childhood friends. Her father's guards! Where were they? And then she saw - **more** of the creatures out in the yard, horrible and bloodied. Bodies scattered, strewn like fallen grape leaves -_

She heard music. Idara came back to herself and leaned over the tub to throw up into it. The screams downstairs were laughter. The music was just music. 

She wiped her mouth, stuffed her slippers on, and raced down the grand staircase. 

She burst into the hall to the tune of a lively reel. Her mother clapped along politely. Her sister laughed with Ephranos, their dark heads leaned together. Her father was talking to Ephranos' father, a stern look on his face. The doors and the feasting table were still solid. There was no blood, no danger. No monsters. 

Heads turned as she entered the room. Too late, she realized she still looked to be in a state. But her pounding heart wouldn't let her stop moving forward. The things she'd seen felt so real. It might have been a dream, a wine-induced nightmare, but it wasn't, even if she didn't know how she could tell the difference. 

Her mother caught her eye and gasped at the look on Idara's face, and the young woman bent over the head table to stammer, "We have to shut the gates and call for help! There are change-beasts coming! I saw it!"

Ephranos frowned and half-rose, though her sister had the good grace at least not to try and meet her eyes. He lowered his voice to the husky whisper that had made her shiver, all those times they had snuck off for long walks in the gardens. "I understand that this was a shock, but you’re causing a scene.”

Her face went scalding hot, but she shook her head fiercely despite how much it hurt to even look at him. "I'm telling you. Something terrible is going to happen. Please, Father, send up to the keep for troops!" she begged, but already the bard was beginning to take up the strains of a new song at her mother's urging. 

"We will discuss this later," her mother said under her breath. Likely humiliated beyond all repair. Idara felt the shame rise up, shame and anger and despair that had no outlet.

Without another word she whirled on her heel and walked through the crowd. They parted for her, but she could feel eyes on her back. Could hear the whispers. Spoiled little girl, who’d played the marriage game and lost. She ignored them and held her head high.

What if it was just a dream? _It wasn't a dream._ She didn't understand what was happening, but if they wouldn't save themselves, then - she would have to do something.

By the time she reached the door, Idara had decided to go raise the guard herself. Outside it was a perfect late afternoon, and no one was in the stable yard when she threw a saddle and bridle on her favorite mare. She was up on the swift horse's back in a second, and pounding down the road to the keep where the Queen stationed a battalion of soldiers. She had to hurry. There was no telling how much time she had. 

Less than she'd thought. 

Just a few miles from the keep, the mare's swift canter suddenly turned into an all-out bolt. She charged off the road despite Idara's hauling on the reins. A second later, a familiar deep snarl followed behind them. Her blood froze. Change-beast! 

The mare ran flat out, and for a moment Idara wondered if they might even outrun the beast. But when her horse zig-zagged back across the road, something leaped out from the trees to grab at her haunches. Idara shrieked in terror and tumbled out of the saddle, landing hard enough to tear open the stays of her dress. The stink of blood was in the air, and this time it wasn't a vision. There mare screamed and crashed into the underbrush. 

Something huge with two heads and three tails lashed above the horse. She saw a hoof kick spasmodically, then the mare fell still. Idara couldn't breathe. She clutched her side in pain and tried to inch backwards from the monster. 

It heard her. It whirled, and she could smell the change-beast's stinking hot breath. She could sense, somehow, the chaotic swirl of magical energies that had turned the creature - a wildcat, once? A wolf pack? - into this ...thing. It made her want to throw up. It felt so wrong, so out of kilter with the way the world should be. 

She didn't have time to run. The thing's eyes were on her, and it growled low and threatening. Its hindquarters wriggled, preparing to pounce. She was going to die, and everyone back at home would be defenseless against what was coming. 

It made her angry. All the fury and hurt, the sheer unfairness of everything that had happened boiled up white-hot inside her. She raised a hand in a pathetic attempt at warding off the coming attack. Instead, pure force blasted from her in a blazing blue bolt of energy. It burned her fingers and her mind, and she distantly heard herself screaming in pain. 

An echoing shriek came from the beast. The wild blast flung the creature away from her, tossing it into the forest. There was a great crunch and a wet wheezing rattle, and then stillness. 

Idara lay panting in the dirt, her once-fine dress hanging halfway off her shoulders. She tasted copper in her mouth, and somehow felt eyes on her. Seeing her. She held still, fearing another attack, but there was no movement from the forest where the beast and her mare had fallen. As the loud pounding of her heart faded from her ears, she faintly heard - bells? Coming closer, just up the road. Her eyes widened. Help. _Thank all the gods._

"Help!" she cried, staggering to her feet. She ran toward the sound, limping a little where her hip had hit the ground from her fall. "Please, there are change-beasts! Help!"

The bells crested a rise in the road, and a creature out of a daydream came swiftly cantering over the hill. The young woman could have cried at the sight. An enormous white horse with bright blue livery, a long silky mane and tail, and no bridle at all on their - _her_ , she somehow knew - on her finely-sculpted head. A Companion. A Herald! ...no. No, the saddle was empty. Her heart fell.

It didn't fall far, because in the next instant, the tall mare slowed and curvetted over to where she stood. Her neck was arched gracefully, her silver hooves gleamed. The Companion was so beautiful that despite everything, it took Idara's breath away. 

The voice that reached out to her was full of love and sang with music sweeter than any Bard's, for all that it held an edge of deep worry.

 _Don't be afraid! I am Chanta, and oh, I've so wanted to meet you! Though perhaps - not quite like this, Chosen. I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner._ The velvety soft muzzle rubbed delicately against her cheek, and she sank into endless blue eyes. For a long moment they stood there, and for the first time in days, Idara felt something other than despair.

"I'm to be a Herald?" she whispered, brushing her burned fingers through that silky mane. A thousand doubts clamored inside her. She was just a silly noble girl. She loved pretty things and beautiful words, fine dresses and fluffy kittens. She had never dreamed of this, would never have even thought...

 _Not just a Herald. A Herald-Mage,_ the tall Companion mare corrected. _Oh love, I don’t mind if you’re silly, but I think you’re going to find you are so much more than that. Now get on! And don't despair. I'm not alone. I saw your vision and told the others. Look!_

They turned as one, and in the near distance Idara saw the glitter of the late afternoon sun shining on armor. Dust kicked up in the wake of the troops as they rushed down the road, and out in front, two figures on white Companions were swiftly approaching.

"We have to go back," she said, her voice shaking. Frightened, but determined. Her head felt strange and floaty as she scrambled up into the saddle. Chanta was taller than her riding-horse. She had to ride astride in her ruined skirts, and after the day she'd had, it almost didn't matter. 

The Companion shook out her long legs and warned, _Hang on tight, I'm fast - so very, very fast!_

They were flying toward the mansion, and Idara squinted her eyes against the force of the rushing wind. Her hands hurt from the burns, but she clenched them into fists.

_We're coming, Papa. Hold on._


End file.
